"No. The man that hired me knew she would be in London, and I was to make sure she was at the train station that night. I don't know how he knew she would be at your parents’ house. I had to send a text when we left. I didn't ask questions. I did as instructed."

"You said a man. Who?"

"He calls himself Jester. I don't fucking know anything else," the driver said.

"Watch it," Abbot interrupted.

"I know they were bringing her to the airport. That's it. I don’t know anything else. I swear on my life," he said.

"The airport? Which airport?"

"Don't know. They were adamant about getting her there in time. Something about a plane leaving for the states."

"Fuck," I yelled. "The fucking states? This isn't a random kidnapping."

Abbot squeezed my shoulder. "Told you she wasn't here. I would have found her by now. I know all the slave runners, kidnappers, all those filthy fucks."

I moved his hand from my shoulder and shot him a look.

"I know that look. Don't go dark on me, F. If anyone will find her, I know you will," Abbot said.

"Don't kill him, but keep watch. I may need him later," I said. Before I walked up the stairs, I turned around and gave Abbot a nod. He knew it was my thank you.

"Come visit me if you get bored. Might need your help," I said then climbed the steps two at a time.

"Might take you up on that. Like to get my hands on a semi-automatic," he said, and the men around the room all smiled. Bastards love their knifes, but guns, oh God. They'd be even more deadly with those, but I knew they had them. Guns were easy to find on the black market.

Once inside the car I called Mum, Luke, and let them know I was taking a private plane back to Vegas as soon as possible. She wasn't here, but no matter where she was, I would find her.

She had better be alive and well, and no one better have fucked her. Jennifer Downs was mine, claimed, and if anyone ruined what was mine, I would end their life.


Twenty-eight

Time was elastic, a rubber band that stretched and would eventually snap. I hoped.

The minutes felt like hours, hours felt like days, and I had no idea how long I'd been in the pits of my own personal hell, surrounded by whores. My bastard, the man that brought me food and clean clothes, slowly grew on me. He never spoke, but seemed to care if I ate and had clean clothes, even though they were barely anything. Maybe it was my mind fucking with me, or he was protecting me in some weird-ass way, but my thoughts seemed to betray me lately. I wondered if anyone was searching for me, or if I would be found. The look on Finnley's face as I screamed his name… nightmarish.

The droning music, while it could have driven someone else crazy, became nothing more than nuance for me. A torture tactic used to drive people insane by playing the same song over and over again until they couldn't stand it anymore, didn't seem to work on me. My attitude about everything became bring it bitch.

After a few days of lashing out against my bastard, I was deemed unfit to be around others. I asked too many questions but never received any answers. I couldn't be trusted to play nice so I was secluded to a room with a dirty mattress and a bathroom. My keeper would let me out of the confines of the filthy walls once a day to stand in the cage in the middle of the room where the men of the underground sex trade ran rampant. They talked about taking my virginity. Why the fuck did they think I was a virgin? Oh wait, because Finnley lied to everyone. Only three people knew I was no longer a virgin. I supposed I was the last virgin left in Vegas, or so they thought, so everyone wanted me.

I hoped the rest of my days wouldn't be the same as the others. To ensure that didn't happen, I began saying whatever I wanted, which caused my bastard to bind my mouth before throwing me in the cage. Apparently, I said things that pissed people off. Who knew? The more they silenced me, the angrier I became, until I was hollow and robotic. I was a little automaton dressed in sleazy clothes.

The door clicked open, and I sat on the bed staring at my feet. I no longer felt the need to look at my bastard. He did the same thing every day. Put the tray on the table and walked out of the room. When the man didn't leave, I looked up at him, and realized it wasn't the same guy.

He snarled at me, and something about him seemed familiar. I recognized him.

"You. I know you."

"You don't know me, bitch."

I thought back, and after a few moments, it came to me.

"Yes, you're the..." Oh God, no. "You're the taxi driver."

I was two notches away from a nervous breakdown. My adrenaline spiked.

"One of the reasons I was late to Simon & Fitch," I mumbled.

I didn't notice the other man in the corner until he laughed. I zeroed in on him.

"And you. The guy at the club. You almost killed me."

"You think you're so smart? You've got it all figured out, Jennifer?"

The smell of musty cigarettes and liquor emanated from him. He knew my name. He knew me. Cab driver walked toward me, pushed me back on the bed, and I struggled to get out of his grasp. Then all of his body weight was on top of me, holding me down, while asshole guy inserted a needle into my arm. My world spun, and I drifted in and out of realities. I knew these men, and they knew me. Nothing was a coincidence. My eyes fluttered. I tried to focus as everything settled and unsettled.

After minutes, I no longer had the strength or energy to fight them or to even speak. I was in my body, but no longer in control of it. They sat me upright on the bed and both looked up and down my body, then laughed at me.

"Not so fucking smart mouthed now are you?"

I yelled for them to stop, to shut the hell up, to leave me alone, but nothing came out. I no longer had control and could barely comprehend the situation.

"We ought to fuck you right here. Show you what a real dick feels like, since you're such a whore, but we couldn't do that, could we?" the cab driver asked. "I think it's time you meet your fucking maker," he continued.

Minutes passed, then the men leaned against the wall and waited. The numbness in my mouth gave just a little, and I barely licked my lips. When the door opened, all I saw were blue eyes staring into mine. I tried to move my arms and legs, anything, but I couldn't.

No. No. No, this cannot be happening.

Luke walked near me, leaned over my body, and whispered in my ear, "Surprise."

The numbing feeling I'd been experiencing since I had been there completely overtook me. I was losing myself and nothing seemed real anymore. Luke, one of the only men I trusted, did this to me?

When he pulled away from me, he looked me in the eyes and smiled.

"I hate you," I choked out.

But he continued to smile, a look that I had once held so much adoration for, now held none of that. It was now tainted.

He said so softly, "one day you'll regret that you said that."

"When Finnley finds out—"

He raised his arms and mocked me. "When Finnley finds out, oh when fucking Finnley finds out." He cut his smile off instantly. "How does the saying go? Blood is thicker than water? Or in your case, thicker than a whore."

The two scoundrels in the room chuckled and heat rushed to my face. Luke grabbed my cheeks hard and forced me to look at him.

"He doesn't give a shit about you. He never did."

My heart hurt. I pulled back from the situation and brought my mind to the dark place that I hated to visit. The one that replayed my parents’ funeral, the reckless girl in the hospital, and my anger built. He held my cheeks so hard in his grasp that they throbbed when he let go.

The cab driver placed a set of keys in Luke's palm.

"To her room, since you've paid for the bitch."

I moved my eyes between them and tried to comprehend what was going on. The other punk continued to lean against the wall and watch me. I shot him the most hateful looks I could conjure up without being in full control of my body.

"You'll be saying 'fuck you' with your eyes when he's fucking you. Making you his bitch. Taking your virginity away." He pointed toward Luke, who stood confidently cool and comfortable. But I didn't understand. Luke knew I wasn't a virgin anymore. Didn't he? Yes, he fucking did.

"You do owe me a good fuck, don't you," Luke said before he exited the room with his minions behind him.

I sat and stared at the wall, unable to move, and then closed my eyes. Luke, sweet innocent loving Luke, was not the man I expected him to be. My entire reality had changed with one look into those blue eyes.

The next morning, I woke to the sound of the door closing. My bastard placed a set of black lingerie, high heels, and thigh-highs on the table with the tray of mystery mush. The same routine continued. Wake, eat bland food, and dress in the clothes he brought. Then I'd be bound and led to the cage as naked women danced on stage. I stared at him with emptiness in my eyes.